As a precursor to this post, I’m not particularly picky on which music videos I enjoy. Most of the time, if the song is good, I don’t really consider the music video in these lists. I also haven’t watched every music video ever by every boy band and so I won’t be able to tell you much about the enormous amount of groups that came out starting in late 2013, minus the very few that I pay attention to. With all that being said, here’s the beginning of the second half of the list.
6. Girls Girls Girls– GOT7
So with 13 million views, it would seem that this video has been relatively successful. It didn’t really end up gaining them any awards, but it was a debut video and they are rookies, so that didn’t seem to surprise anyone. And of course, with the cheesy high school, bad-boy introduction, the video doesn’t seem like anything special. Not only that, but the song doesn’t have particularly meaningful lyrics. However, when the song actually starts, the entire thing changes. I love the dance to this song; the video, secret basement club thing and all, focuses mostly on the incredible dancing of this group. The song is incredibly catchy with a really awesome beat in my personal opinion, making you want to jam along in that dusty basement with all of the other after school rebels watching them. The song is the right mix of their killer vocals and really smooth rapping, taking care not to show off their lead vocalist’s voice too much in the end, as so many groups seem to do these days. The song has enough confidence in itself to not overexert the rapping or singing, and thus the listener isn’t overwhelmed and can follow the song’s progression well.
5. Doom Dada– T.O.P
I’ll be the first to admit it, I did not like this song when I first heard it sitting in a cafe. For a long time, I refused to watch the video or listen to it again. I was really disappointed because I really like TOP and his collaborations with GD and his solo song, Of All Days, on their album. However, I recently watched the music video and decided that this is one of the most underrated songs out there. The video only has 16 million views, which stifle in comparison to GDxYB’s Good Boy at 45 million and Taeyang’s Eyes, Nose, Lips at 39 million. After reading about this and looking up the lyrics I realized the genius in this song and video. The video has a lot of art illusions and supposedly shows the evolution of music, although I get lost in some parts. The lyrics talk about TOP’s different style of rapping and how many others just do the same thing; no one is quite on his level. Although this song isn’t something I’d listen to on repeat, I have tons of respect for the artistic depth of everything about this song and thus, I think it’s incredibly underrated.
4. Special Girl– Infinite H
For some reason, I love this song. It’s so groovy, it makes me want to dance (although not the way a SHINee song makes me want to dance), and the actual song itself is so chill and fun. I love the video, and maybe this is my inner Infinite fangirl coming out, but I am constantly surprised at the lack of views. The video is really cute, the set changes are fun, I love all of the colors and the casual and fun nature of the entire thing. Hoya and Dongwoo are always smiling and making over exaggerated faces, giving the video a really enjoyable vibe. I love the dance, I love the beat, and they were really able to show how much they’ve been learning about rap, helping themselves gradually move out of the typical “idol rapper” category and showing fans how hard they are working to better understand their craft. I also loved the season change scene, I thought that effect was awesome!
3. Shadow– B2ST
Considering the popularity of this group, I am surprised at the lack of talk revolving around this song. The video has a lot of really cool effects (and sometimes gross ones… EEP spiders!). The song itself goes along perfectly with the creepy and dark theme, the background music literally sounds like what Halloween would sound like if it were music. I think Junhyung did an awesome job with this song and the director also did an awesome job sticking to the concept. The effects in the video that create ink-looking shadows and such throughout the movie, as well as the guy painted like a skeleton, were super cool. I think the song did a great job of showing off both of the main vocalists, Hyunseung and Yoseob. They both killed it, even in the live performances. I also thought the dance was really spectacular, as usual coming from B2ST.
2. Arario– Topp Dogg
How does this song not have like 10 million+ views? I guess everyone jumped on the Stardom hate boat after Block B (for good reason too), but that means many people don’t get to witness the extreme talent coming from Topp Dogg. There are 13 members and not even one of them is a “weak link”. On top of that, they continue to pop out amazing songs and incredibly unique videos and concepts. I suggest checking them out. Their most unique video, Arario, has a very heavy traditional Korean theme to it. At about 1.5 million views, there is not enough hype around this video. From wearing traditional clothes, incorporating paper fans into the dance, and an awesome dance off at the end with the yangban guy and the people in monster costumes, this video is packed full of an entertaining mix between traditional Korean culture and the hip hop style that has been taking over the music industry. The song is incredibly catchy with intense hip hop vibes and traditional instruments making up the background music. The lyrics aren’t incredibly special, but the boys put their entire effort into every part of this song and video. You’ll be tapping your foot and probably laughing at the quirkiness of the video. Yet, they manage to not overdo it. 10/10 would recommend this song and video to anyone interested in seeing something different from the Kpop industry.
1. Tried to Walk– B1A4
Don’t ask my what my obsession is with this song because I have no idea what about it catches my eye. The video is relatively cliche, with a typical plot about a boy missing a girl and hopelessly wandering around feeling sad. Maybe it’s the juxtaposition of sets. One set is full of flowers and colors; I can almost feel the sun and the nice fall breeze watching Baro walk around and smile at random flowers he picks up. The second scene is in complete contrast. It is dark as he wanders under the lights of the city, across bridges and empty roads. Both of the sets are really beautiful. I really like B1A4’s clothing and such for the concept, and for some reason I think that this song sums up what heartbreak feels like exactly. The song is brilliant. I love the background music and the way it builds until the final climax where it all kind of breaks loose. I think this is probably one of the best “ballad” type songs out there, and B1A4 has killer vocals that make it even better. This song is completely different than all of the other songs that B1A4 tends to do, and I think that more people should definitely give them credit for what they accomplished in a completely different style. I also think the dance for this (watch the dance practice video) is absolutely incredible and looks really freaking hard, which may contribute to why I like this song so much.
BONUS: If you haven’t ever seen Mr.Mr’s Do You Feel Me go watch it right now!! This is probably the most underrated song and video out there in my personal opinion, but most people don’t know much about Mr.Mr and that would kind of defeat the “well-known boy group” aspect I was going for. The song is incredible, with an amazing build and climax, beautiful harmonies, and outstanding vocals by literally every member. The video is cool with a really awesome jazz/soul style revealed through their dancing I guess with the hats and the mics. Everything about this song and video is incredible so definitely go watch it!
I could probably go on a rant about all of the bands that I think are underrated (SHINee who is constantly in the shadow of SUJU and Exo) and all of the songs that aren’t popular enough (Open the Door by Topp Dogg). However, I will end this post here before I go into too much of a rant and dump all of my musical preferences on all of you guys. Thank you, as always, for stopping by!
Genius Hour Project 